You Hold My Heart
by YueSoEul
Summary: I could be happy, if you're here with me...


It was one of those stories that kept floating in my head for some odd reason. I don't know why really, but I figured, since it won't leave me alone, I can just write it down... It wouldn't hurt. **One-shot** and **aghast **sort-of, don't say I didn't warn you. And you can thank my brother for this coz he woke me up from my beauty sleep and I can't seem to fall back to sleep... .

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"Ga Eul!" Yi Jeong screamed. She was just laughing with him, no one seemed to understand what was going on and chaos was everywhere. His heart was jumping into his throat as he watched her wedding dress soaked with blood. Ji Hoo and Jan Di was on their feet at once, Ji Hoo was saying something about keeping the pressure on. Jan Di was calm, trying to pry Yi Jeong away, but, he wouldn't have any of it. Woo Bin and Jun Pyo was somewhere, they were shouting on top of their lungs giving orders to whomever, Yi Jeong wasn't listening, he wasn't there. It was their wedding day; it wasn't supposed to end that way. No one knew how it came to be. "Sunbae," Yi Jeong heard Ga Eul's weak voice calling out for him. He was holding on tight, can't let go, won't let go.

"Sunbae!" Ga Eul yelped as she could feel herself soaked with the water gun. It was one of those days where Yi Jeong decided it would be fun to abandon his job and come to the school to humour her students. Much to her annoyance, he came along bearing gifts to her already spoiled students, water guns of all things. She never got his fascination to act so childishly after his return from Sweden. In fact, she never understood his constant plea for her attention ever since his declaration of love the day he had return and come to see her first. It wasn't that she did not enjoy his company, she loved having him around, but not when he decided that getting the children ganging up on her. It had only been two months since he had been back and he had already took up all her time, she can't even remember when was the last time she was out with any of her friends or even by herself.

Ga Eul rolled her eyes, Yi Jeong was laughing, and he was definitely enjoying himself too much. He was definitely a bad influence on the children and luckily for Ga Eul, everyone adored him too much to land her into any trouble because they didn't want to cross him. "That's it, I'm asking Jun Pyo-sunbae to ban you from the school property," She whined as she tried to pry the water gun from him. Yi Jeong was quicker, he held it over his head and being taller than her, he had no trouble keeping it out of reach. "I doubt you can get Jun Pyo to do that," Yi Jeong replied with a grin spread across his face. Around them the children were having too much fun firing at each other and the two adults leaving them both soaked in no time.

"I can't, but Jan Di could," Ga Eul threatened. It was not exactly a secret as to how Jan Di could basically get Jun Pyo to do anything for her. In fact, even Yi Jeong had made fun of his friend because of that. "Hmm... But, can you live a day without seeing my face?" Yi Jeong asked playfully, causing Ga Eul to pull an appalled look. Her cheeks redden and she tried to take a step back but Yi Jeong had held her in place with one hand sneaking around her waist before she could move away from him. "I thought so," He said triumphantly, dropping the hand holding the water gun to his side. They stayed fixed looking at each other, contented.

"Yi Jeong!" Ji Hoo's voice was loud but Yi Jeong could not hear a thing. He was staring at his friend with an unfathomable gaze. "Yi Jeong, listen to me," Ji Hoo added desperately as he tried to get Yi Jeong's attention, but, he couldn't hear a word. His mind was not there, not in that time and space. "Sunbae," Jan Di's pleading voice, Yi Jeong couldn't hear that either, all he could see was Jan Di's mouth moving and her trying to pull him away from Ga Eul. Everything was a blur, he had gone numb and unable to move even an inch. He couldn't hear a word even if he tried. "You have to let her go," Ji Hoo was anxious, his face said everything, but Yi Jeong was lost.

"I think my student loves me more than you now," Ga Eul stated as she handed Yi Jeong a towel to dry off. After about an hour of running around playing, even the students were tired and had followed Ga Eul back into the classroom without much protest. She had handed them towels to help them dry down and a couple of other teachers had somehow managed time to join and helped Ga Eul to remove the children's wet clothes and change them into new ones. "Not possible, I can never win against their beloved Miss Chu," Yi Jeong replied, shaking his head lazily as he tried to dry his hair.

Ga Eul couldn't help but smile, she was about to open her mouth to speak, but she felt a small hand tugging at the hem of her shirt. She looked down and found one of her students rubbing her eyes. "Yes Na Ra, do you need anything?" She asked kindly as she kneeled down to level her face with the little girl. "Miss Chu, are you going to marry Ahjusshi?" Na Ra asked innocently that Ga Eul was taken aback while Yi Jeong turned to hide his smile. A couple more students had heard the question and flocked around them, interested to find out the answer to the question as Ga Eul struggled to find one. She tucked a strand of her loose hair uneasily while trying to avoid from looking at Yi Jeong who was already kneeling beside her.

"Well... Umm... I don't know yet," Ga Eul said carefully, still not looking at Yi Jeong whose face had turned slightly. "You see, I need to wait until he asks first," She added, struggling to form a proper sentence in her head. Children, they can really embarrass you when you least expected with their innocent questions. Na Ra seemed to get it and nod her head only to turn her attention. "Ahjusshi, are you going to ask?" The young girl went on and by the time she did, every pair of eyes in the class was turned to Yi Jeong, except for Ga Eul who was determined to look at everything and everyone else but Yi Jeong. She could hear his soft chuckle and the anticipation look in her co-worker's eyes. They were far too excited to hear his answer, while she was just uncomfortable seeing it was too early in the relationship to talk about marriage.

"Hmm... Well, will Miss Chu say yes if I do?" Yi Jeong asked innocently, Ga Eul wasn't sure if the question was directed to her but she was not giving into her curiousity. She had embarrassed herself enough in front of him. Na Ra was too smart for her age that Ga Eul couldn't help but groan inwardly when the girl was tugging on her shirt again. "Well, are you, Miss Chu?" The girl's voice enter Ga Eul's wake as she cursed Yi Jeong at the back of her head. She hated it when he used her students against her. Ga Eul cleared her throat loudly; she had no idea how to answer that question. Of course she would like to say yes, she was in love with him for years and he should know the answer, but, the thought of the fact that they had only been going out exclusively for two months caused her to be cautious.

"Are you?" It was Yi Jeong who was asking this time and Ga Eul couldn't help herself from turning to look at him immediately and found him wearing a smile on his face. In his hand was an opened box decorated with a single ring in it. _Ring._ Ga Eul's eyes widened as she looked from the ring to Yi Jeong's face and the ring again several times. "Yah! Sunbae, you planned this," Ga Eul yelped, slapping Yi Jeong's forearm quickly before she could even think. He was proposing and she hadn't given her answer yet. Yi Jeong couldn't help but laugh at her extreme reaction, not exactly what he had in mind. True, they had only been going out exclusively for two months, but she was the only one on his mind for the past four yes and he was certain that he had been the only one on hers. There was no point in waiting anymore; they had waited for too long.

"Marry me," Yi Jeong stated, uttering the two words he never thought he would ever say in his life. The two words that Ga Eul thought would take at least another good four years for him to say. She was stunned, he was not joking. "Miss Chu?" Na Ra's little voice brought Ga Eul back to reality and she didn't need to pinch herself to make sure she wasn't dreaming. She definitely was not dreaming as she could feel her damp clothes pressing lightly on her. "Yes," She mumbled softly, still partially in a daze. It was not the kind of proposal she thought Yi Jeong would pull. She had thought about it, to be honest, how many girls out there wouldn't?

"Yes?" Yi Jeong asked carefully, the smile haven't left his face but he was worried about rejection still the same. It was not every day he was asking a girl to marry him. "Yes," Ga Eul repeated, nodding her head slightly and he could feel his heart swell. "Yay!" Cheers erupted around them as Yi Jeong placed the ring on Ga Eul's finger; it fit perfectly, and pulled her into his arms. It took all of him not to smoother her with kisses. Maybe proposing in front of a group of children wasn't the best idea. He couldn't have his way with her, but, at least he was relieved to know that soon, he could kiss her anytime he wanted to, it was not like that he hadn't started doing that yet.

Woo Bin was running from one end to another. "Well, I don't care, get me a helicopter if you must," He shouted through the cellphone in his hand as he ran. He had immobilized every resource at hand; even Jun Pyo had frantically put the hospital on high alert. It had been only two minutes; yet, it felt like an eternity had passed. Woo Bin had seen his share of blood spill, but this one, this one had almost left him paralyzed. He wasn't able to feel his legs and if it had not been for Jae Kyung shaking him back to reality before sprinting off to do her part as well, he would have been stuck in a chair. He was lucky to have her and he knew it, she could knock some senses into him and humbled him instantly.

Yi Jeong was following Ga Eul closely behind her. He would stop when she stopped finding something that would interest her but moved on when she caught a glimpse of the price. They were shopping for their wedding bands and it was nice watching her glowing. If Ga Eul had asked, Yi Jeong would have even flown in a designer to design their wedding bands, but after the designer dress, Ga Eul had put her foot down. It had been a week since he had proposed to her and almost everything was arranged without so much of a problem. The engagement had also gathered a number of unwanted attention as it was reported daily in the newspaper. Ga Eul had been putting off the ring purchase while trying to be sensible.

"Sunbae, do we really need to buy the rings here?" Ga Eul said as she turned to find Yi Jeong was barely a step behind her. The almost collision caused her to blush. Yi Jeong arched his eyebrows slightly. Ga Eul was still being the sensible girl she was and Yi Jeong was once again finding himself shaking his head as he smiled. It took him a while to get her to even walk into the store in the first place, the sight of the big sign spelled; Tiffany & Co. had scared her. "Well, there are other stores," Yi Jeong said carefully. "Let's go there first then," Ga Eul replied quickly, turning to head out of the store but Yi Jeong caught her waist before she could.

"Ga Eul," Yi Jeong said softly, pulling Ga Eul even closer to him and he could see her cheeks redden. He loved making her blush, the redness in her cheeks make her look prettier. "For once, can you stop worrying about the price?" He said desperately. "It's going to be our wedding bands, it doesn't hurt to splurge a little," He added, slowly caressing her face with his palm. It was easy to love Ga Eul, but, sometimes when she decided to continue living a frugal lifestyle, he couldn't help but find himself irritated. It was not like he could not afford to shower her with extravagant gifts. He never understood how Jun Pyo felt, now, he began to understand a little bit more. There was the downside of falling in love with the country bumpkin.

"But –" Ga Eul tried to counter Yi Jeong's statement. She hadn't seen the bill for their wedding but from what she could gather from the venue, catering and everything, it would have taken any normal person a lifetime to pay it back, honestly, probably more than a hundred lifetimes. "Let me guess, you found out the estimate price of your engagement ring?" Yi Jeong guessed, looking into Ga Eul's eyes intently. She couldn't lie and found herself nodding. Yi Jeong sighed deeply, after the length he went through to hide it, it became news after all. He had bought the ring before he returned to Korea and had been waiting for the right time to give it to Ga Eul without completely freaking her out.

"What am I going to do with you?" Yi Jeong stated slowly, pulling Ga Eul into a hug. The ring had felt heavy on Ga Eul's finger from the moment Yi Jeong had put it on. It was troubling her because she didn't know what to expect anymore. Being the news of the hour, day, week and month, she was having a hard time to adapt to the lifestyle. "Should I block all search sites?" He asked jokingly and felt her small fists hit his chest lightly. "I love you," He whispered as he held onto her tighter. "Sunbae, you're squishing me," Ga Eul protested trying to push him away, but Yi Jeong was laughing and wouldn't let her off.

Yi Jeong felt the two strong pair of hands pulling him off. "Let go," He shouted, but they wouldn't have any of it. They were pulling him away from the person he loved most and there was nothing he could do even when he was kicking and screaming. Ji Hoo had taken over, checking Ga Eul's pulse. Yi Jeong was still struggling, just minutes ago they were talking and laughing, just hours ago they had exchanged their vows, binding themselves to each other. Just hours ago she had held him close and told him she loved him. It was suppose to be everything and more for them. It was supposed to be her fairy tale; he had tried to make sure of that the most. It would be something of which she would remember for the rest of their lives.

"Can't sleep?" Yi Jeong asked as he saw Ga Eul approaching him. He was having a hard time falling asleep himself. In less than twenty-four hours he would find himself married to the woman he loved. He remembered how once he came across a saying about how being in love would cause a person to lose sleep seeing that reality was already better than one can hope for. He never understood that phrase, not until he realized that he was in love with Ga Eul. He watched her shook her head and stopped a few steps away from where he was laying down. He wondered how she managed to get away from her bridesmaids; they had been taking up all of her time that he had barely seen her in the past week. He had to admit, he missed her.

"Come here," He called and slowly she walked towards him, finding her place curling beside him as he tighten his grip around her. Yi Jeong placed a soft kiss on top of Ga Eul's forehead and ran his fingers slowly through her hair as his eyes were fixed upon the open sky. They stayed quiet, completely contented for a while. Neither needed any words to describe what they were feeling. "What are you thinking about?" Yi Jeong asked after a while. Ga Eul moved slightly to look up upon Yi Jeong's face. "You," She replied simply only to meet his questioning gaze. "Me?" Yi Jeong asked curiously. "Mhmm..." Ga Eul mumbled, nodding her head. "About what would you do without me," She replied softly. "Hmm... Probably wouldn't get far in life," He replied playfully causing her to chuckle.

"Ga Eul, can you hear me, you have to stay with me," Ji Hoo said as he struggled to keep Ga Eul awake. Jan Di was putting pressure on the wound but the blood seemed to be gushing out non-stop. "Sunbae," Ga Eul called out, trying to find Yi Jeong who was still struggling and finally broke free. "I'm here, I'm here," Yi Jeong scrambled back towards Ga Eul. "Jan Di, keep the pressure on," Ji Hoo stated desperately as he heard a helicopter overhead. Woo Bin had outdone himself again. "I'm here Ga Eul," Yi Jeong said quickly, reaching for Ga Eul's hand and wrapped his hands around it. He had always loved it, how her small hand fit perfectly into his. "Be happy, I love you," Ga Eul stated slowly as her eyes closed.

Yi Jeong closed his eyes tightly as he stood before the cold headstone. He recalled the conversation he had with Ga Eul the night before their wedding, the last conversation they had had alone before she was cruelly taken from him, it had been fifty years since yet it still felt like it was just yesterday. They did capture the shooter; apparently it was one of his old lovers. Part of him hated his former self, because of his former self; he had lost the one person he loved more than anything in the world. He was right when he answered Ga Eul when she had asked him what he would do without her. He was right; he couldn't go far, not on personal level. He was a successful and respected, but he was no longer the person he was when she was there. He never remarried nor did he ever allow any woman to become important to him, no one could ever match up to his one and only; Ga Eul. He had lost his heart, it died the moment she drew her last breath.

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Originally published on "Lovers Unparalleled" 9th August 2011


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